Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ ql\~ .' --_.. _. -2:?:.._ " ~/ , s~ Ga ry Scot t fin ished third. Keener followed Springsteen to the flag. Springsteen leads Harley sweep of Louisville National By Gary Van Voorhis LOUISVILLE, KY .,J UNE 7 With the aplomb of a seasoned ve teran, rookie Expert Jay Springsteen, aboard the Team Vista Sheen Harley-Davidson, sped to a flag to flag victory in the AMA Gran d National/Camel Pro Series Louisville half mile. In the place and show positions o n th e cru shed Limest one hor s e r a cin g c i rc u i t w er e Harl ey-Davidson factory teammat es Corky Keener, win ner o f last ye ar's event, and Gary Scott. Harl ey mo un ted Dave Seh l, a t hre e time Loui sville win ner , place d fo ur th with t he firs t non ora nge and black Milw au kee marqu e Racing being Han k Sco tt 's Shell Spe cial ties Yam ah a in fifth . J ay's vic to ry sho uld niche a p lace in the reco rd books fo r t he Flin t, l\Iichigan nativ e as the yo unge st ride r to win a Nat io nal. Springsteen , just a wee k shy of be ing tw o m on th s past his 18t h hirt hday, will en ter his Senior year in high sch ool in Septembe r. It was, to th e fans obvious delight , a Harle y nigh t. The reason beh ind t he ir p le asure was clearly evide nt upo n a short stroll in to the spe ci al area designat ed fo r bi ke parkin g as row up o n ro w of t he b rand that mad e Milwau kee famo us sat glisten ing in the slo wly setting sun. If o ne were to use prac tice as a ba sis fo r be tting o n the o utc o me o f the National then Co rk y Keener was the odds on favori te . Corky , in mo st ob se rve rs' m ind s, w on pra ct ice han ds 8 do wn with his rooster tail displays of high lin e rid in g wh ile joc ke ying aro und th e Louisville oval searc h ing for the fast est line. In tim e trials th e co m plexio n o f th e ac tio n chan ged, but o nly a litt le as Gary _ Sco t t tic ked off a fleet 26. 096 sec o nd time lap for th e fastest clo cking o f the 10 8 riders ente re d. A few tic ks do wn from SCOtt'S time ca rne Jay Springste en , Rex Beau champ, Scott Rader and Corky Keen er, aU o n Harl ey s, with Trium ph mounted Steve Morehead cloc kin g in as sixth fastes t. A slim margin of on ly eigh t tenths of a second separated Gary Scott from Norton mo unted 48th qualifier John Hateley at 27.07 5. Before t ime tri als Triumph m ounted Atlantic Regional Exp ert Cha m pio n Billy Eves h ad co mmen ted " It 's just a h or sep ower tr ack. If you can 't go fas t you be tter not sh o w up ." He qu alified in 4 2n d p osit io n . One lap in t o th e first he at race th e cro wd was on its feet an d cheering as Co rky Keener , afte r a po or start , p ut on a di spl ay of high lin e rid ing t h ro ugh turn s o ne and two o n th e seco n d lap th at car rie d him from seventh to secon d p lace by th e time the pack hit th e bac k st raight. In ano t he r lap he had dro pped Hank Scott fro m th e lead an d it wa s bye- bye Co rk y . Gar y Scott was wo rking his way t hrough t he pac k to fo urth whe re he ear ned a ti cket to a Se mi. In fro n t of Gary, b ro th er H an k was wagin g a losin g batt le fo r seco n d wi th D a ve Seh l although both second and t hird were worth d ire ct tran sfers to the Main . Te en ager Jay Springsteen d isplaying w in ning style . fast est ever at Lo uisv ille ( 12 th ), pu t in " wh at m ay be his best ride ever o n th is track" as he fini shed seco n d to Te xas ro ok ie Expert Bu b ba , Ru sh in th e fin al heat aft er lead ing the in it ial five lap s. Still Kenny had h is d irect tr an sfe r to th e Na tio nal wh ile Gary Sco tt , who tr ails Rob er ts in the Na t io na l poin t st andings, The second hea t pro du ced the q uickest 10 lap s o f the nigh t wi th J ay Sp ringsteen tu rnin g in an eff ortless winning ride as th e tri o of Jim my Zeigler, Ch uc k Palm gren and Billy Eves p layed sw ap an d swap again beh ind hi m . Zeigler hel d o n to seco nd wi th Chu ck Palm gren 's high lin e pro ving vulner able to Eves' rid e o n the gro ove as Eves slip ped un der Chuc k in th e final co rn er an d o u t sp ed h im to the flag. Th e hea t had been almost a fu ll fo ur seco nds Rob erts last ye ar ) o f h aving to win his Semi for a tran sfer spot. Steve Droste ch arge d to third pla ce . It was n o w tim e to re-group and wai t for t he po st ing of t he grid for the Sem is. Gary Scott, ear lie r in th e eve ning h ad said " Th is is it. I've go t to ma ke the bes t o f these three ra ces and get all th e Nat io n al po ints I can ." lI e had a lon g st ruggle to ma ke the best o f thi s o ne. 'The firs t Sem i saw Chuc k Palm gren faste r th an Ke ene r's an d co n ve rsatio n e me rge as th e wi nn er , b ut on ly afte r a q uic kly tu rne d to rookie J ay an d his lot o f sh uffl ing in th e fro n t ran ks. Ch uck led th e opening th ree lap s un t il Steve Moreh ead bullied past alt ho ugh Mo re head 's lead laste d o nly a lap as th e Ohio rider slid ou t as he was ex iting tum fo ur . " I had j ust go tte n on the gas an d was shiftin g m y we ight when the rear wheel tou ch ed the loo se st uff an d t hat was it. " St eve slid clear while his bike did a bouncin g act. Palmgren's next challenger was Ken Sp ringsteen and it loo ked as though th e Vist a Sheen rider wo uld out-motor Palmgren for th e win until Palmgren effe ctively shut th e d oo r o n Sp ringsteen 's last lap ch arge. Gary Sco tt moto re d awa y from the rest of the ac tion in the fin al Se mi leaving Randy Cleek (in h is first ride on a Harl ey ) to fend fo r himself in second chances. Th e th ird heat was a flag to flag win for Rex Beauchamp, b ut all th e atte n tio n was glue d on San J ose winner Greg Sassa man as he put in a ride t ha t too k him from dead last off th e lin e to se co n d at the chec ke rs. Sassa m an liter aUy go bb led up t he co m pe tit ion in th e op ening lap s of the race th en se ttled down to a ca lcu la ted assa ult on Eddie Wirt h and Paul Pressgro ve in second an d th ird. It to o k the Georgia rider un til th e end of th e eigh th lap t o find his op en ing, b ut when he did he swooped the pair for seco nd with Pressgrove tailin g on behind to nose ou t Wirth fo r third place. Kenny Roberts, who qualifi ed his was in the un en viable po sitio n' (as was as Tedd y Ne wto n , Mike Caves, Scott Drake and Keith Ulicki all put in cha llenges. In th e closing lap s Cleek and Newton pulled fr ee o f the p ack and set up a du el of their o wn with New ton no tchin g sec o n d pl ace two laps from th e flag. Cleek h eld on for th ird. Clee k h ad his re venge o n Te ddy New to n in th e Expe rt Trophy Race as he ro de the Bar t Mar kel tu ne d Harl ey to a hard fought victory . In th is race Cleek pu t the p ressu re o n le ad er Newton and finally slipp ed p ast with four lap s rem ain in g. Th ird fi nally wen t to Keith Ulic ki with Mi ke Caves cu tt ing throu gh the pack for fou rt h fo llo wed by Mike J o hnson and Mar k William s. The co nsen sus o f o p inio n o f the riders before th e National was th at the edge of th e cush io n wou ld be th e pl ace to ride ,in the ope ni ng lap s with a move down to th e to p o f th e groove in the closing mil es whe n t hings go t ro ugh . Yam ah a mo unted Kenny Roberts was planning t o' "Stay in th e marbles and off th e gro ove . We've finally go tte n some good p o wer alt ho ugh it's to o mu ch for th e groove. " Others, like Rex Beau ch amp figu red eve ryone to be pretty much e q ua l (" So me more than o thers. " ) and th at th e start and th e opening lap would be import ant. Gre g Sassaman, wi th his San Jose winning engine turning o u t many, man y ponies, fretted o ver his p oor st art in the heat race . " I hope I do n 't do th at again (he did). It t akes a ro ad race r to ride that bike ; the re 's almost no w ay y o u can feathe r it off the line." A confident Corky Keene r just smiled while past

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